Irrigation dept plans 30 projects for groundwater recharge in Ggm

The district irrigation department has started preparing water security plans for 164 villages in Gurugram with the focus on recharging ground water levels as part of the Atal Bhujal Yojana, said officials on Tuesday

The district irrigation department has started preparing water security plans for 164 villages in Gurugram with the focus on recharging ground water levels as part of the Atal Bhujal Yojana, said officials on Tuesday.

Gurugram, India- June 28, 2018: A natural well in Bandhwari village which has been shut after drying up due to depleting groundwater levels, in Gurugram, India, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. (Photo by Yogendra Kumar/Hindustan Times) To go with Prayag Arora Story (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Officials said plans for 30 different projects have been sent to the state government for approval and work is likely to start within two months. The irrigation department has planned measures, such as pond rejuvenation, desilting and plantation activities to increase ground water levels in these villages.

Shiv Singh Rawat, superintending engineer of irrigation and water resources, Gurugram, said, “Under the Atal Bhujal Yojana, we are working on developing water security plans for each of these villages. So far, 30 micro plans have been sent to the state government for approval. Our aim is to identify the current demand for water and availability, how much rainwater is being used for recharging water sources and how the gap between the demand and the availability can be met over the next three years. An implementing agency has also been hired by the district administration and we are focusing on community participation in these projects.”

Officials said the plans are being prepared after conducting three rounds of meetings at every village to understand the reasons for a sharp decrease in ground water level, be it irrigation or rainwater run-off.

The 164 villages across the four blocks of Gurugram were identified and categorised as ‘red’ villages--either low ground water stressed or severely ground water stressed-- by the Haryana Water Resources Authority (HWRA) as they witnessed the maximum drop in the ground water levels in the past one decade from 2010 to 2020.

According to the data of HWRA, in Pataudi block, some villages such as Bhora Kalan (-18.85m) and Binola (-14.35m) have witnessed maximum fluctuation in ground water levels in the past decade.

In January, the HWRA directed the Gurugram administration to come up with an action plan for increasing the groundwater level in the district. Asserting that the district needed to focus on the use of treated wastewater, the authority asked the district administration to form a sub-committee, under the district water harvesting committee, which will submit daily reports that can be used to make a water action plan for Gurugram.

Gurugram, a dark zone district, has been seeing a reduction in the groundwater levels for the past few years. According to HWRA, 98 of the 200 villages in Gurugram are under the severely groundwater stressed category due to over extraction of groundwater.